Campaign seeks to push Seattle minimum wage to $15

Washington has the highest minimum wage in America, at $9.19 an hour, but that’s not enough – now, a Seattle campaign is pushing to make it $15. An U.S. Chamber of Commerce study says that a higher minimum wage would lead to low-wage job losses, as business owners would likely cut low-wage jobs altogether in order to save money. However, economist Chris Benner refutes this claim, saying that although small businesses would be more impacted by a minimum wage hike, overall the economy would benefit from an influx of citizens with more spending power.

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Chris Benner is the Dorothy E. Everett Chair in Global Information and Social Entrepreneurship, Director of the Everett Program for Digital Tools for Social Innovation, and Professor of Environmental Studies and Sociology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. His research examines the relationships between technological change, regional development, and structures of economic opportunity, including regional labor markets and restructuring of work and employment. His most recent book, coauthored with Manuel Pastor, is Just Growth: Inclusion and Prosperity in America’s Metropolitan Region.